Category: Come On Over

The Week

posted by Chelsea

It’s turn-out time. The cows and calves are headed out to summer ground. Yesterday the cows were moved off of our winter ground over to the corrals we’ll all be working at today. Today all the cows and calves are being “worked”… cows are being vaccinated, calves are being branded and vaccinated. Tomorrow everything gets “shipped” (put on big trucks) and sent out to the start of our summer range and ,from there, it’ll take about 3 days to get them to the start of the summer permit.

Because I currently look like this:

I will not be participating in the riding events this year. So rather than give you the rundown about the cows, calves, horses, and cowboys, I decided I’ll give you the rundown of the menu, because I will be cooking this week. My job is to keep bellies full, maybe not as full as mine, but I’ll do my best :-)

For today, I’ll give you the rundown of food events:

BREAKFAST: cinnamon rolls are in the oven for the branding crew this morning. The girls and I will run them out when they’re good and warm and gooey. We’ll drop a pan by to the hospital nurse’s station on our way, cause I’m pretty crazy about that crew, too.

LUNCH: Then we’ll come home and pull potatoes out of the oven and make a potato salad- hard boiled eggs are ready to go in the fridge, as are the pickles. Two roasts cooked overnight for BBQ beef sandwiches, so we’ll pull the beef and season it when the salad is done. Callie is making cookies. I have chips, water, soda, and water for hot drinks ready to go.

DINNER: out or leftovers or something un-labor related. Amen.

The rest of the week I’ll make lunches for Buck and his dad, who is here helping for the week. I have egg sandwich fixings for the mornings (my choice as they are my favorite thing these days) and a full coffee cannister ready for brewing. I have a dinner menu planned and will share that with you as the week progresses. I’ll also share branding and turn-out pictures as I get them. Spring is officially here. The cows, my friends, are being turned out! :-)

Poppy Seed Bread

posted by ann

I love poppy seed baked goods!!! I love poppy seed muffins, poppy seed cake and I really love this delicious bread. It is super easy to make and I really like the fact that it makes two loaves (one for now, one for the freezer). The combination of flavorings and glaze make this especially yummy!

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 – 3/4 cups sugar (the recipe calls for 2 1/4 c., but with the glaze, I think it’s too sweet)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 – 1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 – 1/2 cups milk
1 cup oil
1 Tbsp. + 1 – 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 – 1/2 tsp. each butter flavoring, almond extract and vanilla extract

Glaze:

1 – 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (I use milk when I don’t have the OJ)
1/2 tsp. each butter flavoring, almond extract and vanilla extract

In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, oil, butter flavoring and extracts. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Transfer to two greased 9 x 5 x 3 – inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 -55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves.

Becky’s “Kathy Cookies”

posted by Chelsea

This is a recipe passed down from my friend, Becky, passed down from her sister, Kathy. This cookie goes perfectly with afternoon tea-time and is a great addition to a husband’s/child’s lunch pail. It also happens to be the newest addition to my list of favorite cookies.

(I cut the recipe in half, but it can be made in whole and the cookies freeze well for later consumption.)

Ingredients/Directions:

Cream:
4 sticks of butter (the salty kind)
2 cups sugar (the sugary kind… haha)
2 cups brown sugar

Add & beat in one at a time:
4 eggs
2 tsps vanilla

Separately, combine:
4 cups flour
5 cups oats
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Add dry ingredients to wet in parts.
Stir in 3 bags of chips and anything else you want: nuts, raisins, craisins, seeds, etc.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. I prefer to cook them like Becky does- in a 9×13 or on a cookie sheet in bars (takes 2 of either). Bake them about 20 minutes if you choose to make them this way.

Enjoy!

“Spaghetti” Cabonara

posted by Chelsea

My friend, Brandy, emailed me this recipe last week and I made it last night. It’s quite delicious and it went together quickly and fairly painlessly. It will definately be a new addition to my “use often” recipes.

I took pictures of the ingredients and the process to make this dish, but they didn’t exactly turn out. So I’ll show you the finished product… keep reading and you’ll see the final Italian goodness at the end.

Ingredients:

1 package of spaghetti noodles (I wanted to use angel hair, but only had 1/2 box, so I used linguine…. because that’s what I had.)
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and chopped (I used turkey bacon…shhh… I think it tastes better and meatier than regular bacon)
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
1 cup cream
1/2 cup parmesean (I used more- a cup, probably)
1/2 cup chopped parsley (fresh)
2 eggs
black pepper and salt (to taste)

Simple instructions:

Cook bacon and chicken. Chop. Set aside.
Cook noodles. To al dente, of course!

When noodles are finished, drain them. Then without wasting anytime add all of the remaining ingredients. Then without wasting anymore time serve it next to a piece of freshly toasted ciabatta and eat up…

This being the very first time I made this dish, I couldn’t help but think of several optional additions: sauteed onions & mushrooms, steamed broccoli & (or) cauliflower.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pudding Cookies

posted by ann

When I was in college I spent one summer working for a little deli owned by a terrific lady named Sue. She was a great cook and we baked cookies, cakes and brownies daily as an accompaniment to the sandwiches we served for lunch. Sue was generous enough to share her recipes and this is one of them. These cookies are soft and dense, with a mellow vanilla flavor.

Substitutions, such as butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla or almond extract in place of the vanilla, are also very good. If you prefer a more traditional oatmeal cookie, just add cinnamon and raisins. Enjoy with coffee or tea and a dear friend!

1 cup butter-flavored Crisco
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.5 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups rolled oats (I used old-fashioned)
1 cup raisins (optional)

In large bowl, cream together shortening, brown sugar and white sugar. Blend in pudding, then beat in eggs and vanilla until the batter is light and fluffy.

Combine flour and baking soda; mix into the batter. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes or until cookies are set and edges are brown. (Do not over bake or the cookies won’t be soft)

My New Love

posted by Chelsea

My current fantasies revolve around 2 things. In this order:

#1. Food

#2. Sleep

In honor of the #1 thing I daydream and think about non-stop, I’m going to share my new love with you this morning. After a bit of blog hopping a couple of nights ago, I found the GREEN MONSTER SPINACH SMOOTHIE. I found it via a link from the LC VALLEY MOM who has a great blog- full of good ideas and helpful mom-ish tips.

Now, about the smoothie. This Green Monster is awesome- a smoothie full of banana, greek yogurt, peanut butter, milk, and…. SPINACH! It’s green… which my girls LOVE. And it tastes DELICIOUS… which we all love. The only change I made is that I used almond butter instead of peanut butter– simply because I’m obsessed with almond butter these days. When my supply runs out I’ll go back to the peanut stuff. You can click on the link above to see pictures and you can look below for the recipe:

1 frozen banana
1 Tbsp peanut butter (or almond!)
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I used plain and it was great)
1 cup milk (almond, soy, cow, whatever you want!)
4 cups spinach

Stick all the ingredients in blender and BLEND together.

Don’t be scared. The spinach will hurt neither you or your tastebuds. It’s so delicious I’m going to drink one everyday.

Mosses’s Magic Kitchen

posted by Robyn

I made myself promise that I would never write about Africa on CC because I could write about it for days and bore all you faithful readers to ~~death~~, tears. Furthermore it has nothing to do with the cowgal’s way of life. Buuuuuut, I just can’t help myself, I HAVE to share this one ~~experience~~ recipe with you, but first I’d like to give you a little background on where it came from and who makes it. Please bare with me.

Deep in the heart of Tanzania, where the lions roar, elephant roam, the dove forever sings at all hours ~ day or night I might add, and where the smoky air lingers, is the Selous Game Reserve.

In the Selous, there is a Pierr’e van Tonder hunting camp……

In the camp there is a kitchen, but not just any kitchen….”Mosses’s Magic Kitchen”

In Mosses’s Magic Kitchen there is Mosses…..~~Duh~~

This is Mosses. He is always smiling and loves to laugh. He even has a sign in his kitchen that says ” Mosses’s Magic Kitchen.”

The best food I ever eaten comes out of his kitchen. Top of the line, five star restaurant ( I will give it 10 stars) type of good food. Each meal is served English style, 3 courses and the whole 9 yards. They serve fresh shrimp, lobster, cod, or creamy buffalo lasagna with salad, rice, stuffed cabbage, or just about anything you want.

Each meal starts out with an appetizer, such as french onion soup or our favorite, oxtail soup, with fresh baked (that afternoon) bread on the side.

All these tasty delicacies, ironically, are cooked on this stove top, if you will…

…..and the scrumptious cakes and breads come out of this oven…

yikes! Nothing looks magic about this kitchen, but if you saw and tasted the food that emerges from it, you would know it is.

Note: Mosses told us that baking is a lot easier now with his “new” oven. Before, he baked his bread under a big pot with charcoal on top.

Now, by way of that tale of truth, if you are still interested, we had Mosses give us the recipe for the oxtail soup.

Oxtail Soup:

1 oxtail

1 chopped onion

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

2 beef cubes (bouillon)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 chopped tomato

2 diced carrots

2 big diced potatoes

1 tablespoon cooking oil

3 liters water

pepper and salt to taste

In cooking oil, fry onions, garlic and parsley, add meat and fry til it starts to get brown. Add tomato paste and tomato, fry til the tomato starts to get tender. Then add carrots, potatoes, water, and beef cubes. Cook on low heat for 3 or 4 hours. Add more water if necessary. It is ready when the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Although we have not yet mastered this tasty dish, we keep trying. We have come to the conclusion our “oxtail” is too fat. Mosses makes his soup with the tail of the wild cape buffalo.

And it is quite hard to find cape buffalo on this side of the globe, so we reluctantly settle for the fat tame cattle we are used to. Perhaps it’s because it isn’t cooked in the “Magic Kitchen.” Is that why it doesn’t taste as yummy? I’m working on getting the buffalo lasagna recipe. Mosses makes his own noodles for this dish, in, yes, …you guessed it, the magic kitchen.

French Toast Casserole

posted by ann

This recipe is a favorite to serve when I’m having company. I like the convenience of preparing the casserole the night before, plus your home will smell like a bakery as this is cooking.

This dish has a crispy sweet topping with a rich custard-like filling. For a real treat, I sometimes substitute real cream or flavored coffee creamer for a portion of the milk.

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (approx. 10 cups)
3 cups milk
8 eggs
4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

3 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Place the bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13″ baking pan.

In large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & salt.

Pour over the bread.

Cover & refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Combine sugar & cinnamon & sprinkle over top of casserole.

Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with warm syrup and a smile!

Yield: 12 servings

Banana, Sour Cream, Walnut Loaf

posted by ann

Oh Joy! I have rediscovered a favorite recipe!! I don’t know if that ever happens to you, but I often stumble across a beloved recipe in a cookbook, drawer-full-of-recipes or even in one of my “piles”……anyone hearin’ what I’m sayin’?

Anyway, I was beyond thrilled when I “found” this fabulous bread recipe in a cookbook that contained a fabulous cake recipe I was wanting to make (more on that cake in a future post). I just happened to have several super-ripe bananas so I quickly whipped up a loaf. This bread really stands out from ~~mortal~~ ordinary banana breads! This recipe yields a huge, buttery, rich bursting-with-banana flavor bread.

If you would like an extra-special treat, butter a thick slice and stick in under the broiler until the butter bubbles and the edges of the bread are browned……yummmm!

2/3 cup butter or margarine (may I ~~recommend~~highly recommend using butter?)
1 – 1/3 cups sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating until well blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl; stir well. Combine eggs, banana, sour cream and vanilla; stir well. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternately with the banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until blended after each addition; stir in walnuts.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (you may need to bake 5 – 10 minutes longer, so be sure to check with a toothpick). It may be necessary to shield the bread with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

A Week of Dinners #4

posted by Chelsea

This meal is the one that’s going to make you incredibly thankful that I’m posting a week of dinners. You’re not going to know what to do with yourself. It’s easy- nutritious- kids love it- and so will you. I only hope I can bring it justice through the pictures and descriptions I’m about to share with you.

Yesterday was our last “crazy Wednesday”- final swim lesson day, final AWANA night, and a a regular day full of a bunch of other stuff going on in our life. So when dinner came, I needed something quick. And I managed to pull this one off. Hang on to your hats… or your pink ninja scarf…

… whichever the case may be.

Dinner= Smoothies: Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, and enough juice (100% of course! Who do you think I am, someone who feeds her kids cereal for dinner?!) to help the blender blend.